My dear T-Talk family – today I have chosen an emotional story narrated by Katherine Hepburn, one of the Hollywood’s greatest actresses. I am putting the story down in original draft as I came across it on the university of WhatsApp forwards. Sometimes these forwards do make a great impact like this one. So please read on….
One of the great Hollywood actresses, Katherine Hepburn was possibly the only person who won the Oscar Award four times, apart from being nominated a dozen times, but was never present in the grand ceremony to receive it.
She had a strong belief that only the affection and love of the people who enjoyed her acting and cinema was the greatest reward for her.
Katherine Hepburn was from a middle class family with a modest upbringing. But, her parents instilled strong values in their growing up days. One such incident was narrated by herself later, in her own words:
“Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus. Finally, there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter. This family made a big impression on me. There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12.The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn’t have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.
The children were well behaved – all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands. They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night. By their excitement, you could sense they had never been to the circus before. It would be a highlight of their lives.
The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. The mother was holding her husband’s hand, looking up at him as if to say, “You’re my knight in shining armor.” He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy. The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted. He proudly responded, “I’d like to buy eight children’s tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus.”
The ticket lady stated the price. The man’s wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man’s lip began to quiver. Then he leaned a little closer and asked, “How much did you say?” The ticket lady again stated the price. The man didn’t have enough money. How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn’t have enough money to take them to the circus?
Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. (We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!) My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said, “Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket.”
The man understood what was going on. He wasn’t begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation. He looked straight into my dad’s eyes, took my dad’s hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied; “Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family.”
My father and I went back to our car and drove home. The $20 that my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with. Although we didn’t get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.
That day I learnt the value of Giving. If you want to be large, larger, largest than life, learn to Give. The Giver is bigger than the Receiver.
Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get – it is only concerned with what you are willing to give, which is everything.
I don’t know how many of us having such a big heart to help someone when he really needs help. But surprisingly some of our own relatives will not come forward to help us and they would like to see how we are going to fall further. This is today’s world. We have to live with this and get up to set things perfect in our own life.
Let us all enjoy every moment of life.
Regards
Katherine Hepburn
Well friends I am sure you all agree with me that the above story needs no embellishment from my side because it is genuinely touching in every emotional sense. I always say, Karma comes around – what we sow, so shall we receive. Today we are fortunate, having everything with the grace of god, tomorrow we might be in need. While we have what we want, by sharing it with someone less fortunate, we will not become any lesser. In fact we become taller in stature because of our deeds. That is the secret joy of selfless giving felt by Katherine Hepburn. We all too can feel the same joy if we also try in our own little selfless ways to bring a smile on someone’s face.
Dr. Rajesh Mankani
